Raw Food

There are so many lovely places to visit in Kensington & Chelsea, from the Saatchi Gallery to the Natural History Museum to the lovely shops of the Kings Road. There is something for everyone! It’s a great place to spend the day exploring on the weekend, and if the sun is shining it’s even more delightful. When it comes to deciding where to re-fuel at Lunch, you’re spoilt for choice. But if I were to pick one absolute gem in this area it would have to be Raw Press, located just off Sloane Square.

The ‘Superfood Bar’ is seriously impressive, and luckily you don’t have to pick just one dish, you can have a bit of everything! The chefs are always adding new recipes to the menu so you’re unlikely to have the same thing twice. Think spiralised celeriac salad with cashew dressing, endive & radicchio salad with hemp seeds and pear, and ‘cream’ of mushroom soup with freshly baked sourdough.

A massive plus – the portions are generous…

You can wash your lunch down with cold-pressed juice, almond mylk or a matcha latte.

The juices range from a pre-workout Coffee & Mylk or a sweet Carrot & Orange juice, to the hardcore veg only Super Green. In the words of Raw Press themselves… “Brace yourself for a green tonic so potent that your taste buds will be recalibrated and your cells zinging.”

If you’re thinking this place sounds great, well, there is more! The cafe set up is brilliant – with free Wifi and plenty of plug sockets, you could easily set up camp and have a productive couple of hours tucked away. There are toasters on some of the tables, so you can make your own nut butter toast for breakfast whilst catching up on emails. What a dreamy situation that is! Multi-tasking heaven.

Raw Press have a couple of London cafes, one on Dover Street in Mayfair beneath Wolf & Badger, and another on Chelsea’s Ellis Street – a short walk from Sloane Square tube station. If you happen to be in Notting Hill, you can also pick up the delicious Raw Press juices from the Wolf & Badger store on Ledbury Road.

Wellness warriors such as Madeleine Shaw, Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley sisters are all big fans, so if you’re after a lunch supercharged with the healthiest food nature has to offer, pop down to Raw Press and fill your boots!

Christmas usually means there are lots of sweet treats around. With so much temptation it’s great to have a back up that you know is delicious and homemade, so you’re ready for when you decide to indulge! The time off work is a great opportunity to experiment in the kitchen, and one of the triumphs I’ve created is this recipe for Raw Vegan Chocolate Orange Slice.

As ready-made treats usually contain processed sweeteners, preservatives and other nasties, it’s a healthier and tastier to make your own. This Raw Vegan Chocolate Orange Slice is deliciously festive and a great balance of crunchy and smooth caramel textures. The chocolate is laced with warm and fragrant Christmas spices that add a richness, and the freshness of the orange balances these flavours perfectly.

As the slices are raw, the cacao and maca retain all their goodness and antioxidant properties. Oats contain a good amount of the minerals Manganese and Magnesium. The raw cacao powder is full of flavanols, plant-based antioxidants that help support heart health.

These are great as a light dessert if you’re having a big meal such as a Vegan Roast, or just as a sweet treat because after all ’tis the season when cautious eating is abandoned…

INGREDIENTS

Oat base:

100g Whole Organic Oats

100g Mixed Cashews and Walnuts

1 tbsp Maple Syrup

A splash of almond milk

Date caramel layer:

2 cups Medjool Dates

1 cup mixed Cashews & Walnuts

2 tbsp melted Coconut Oil

2 tsp Maca Powder

1/3 cup Plant-based Milk (e.g. Soy or Almond)

1/2 tbsp Maple Syrup

Chocolate truffle layer:

40g Cacao Butter

35g Coconut Oil

5 tbsp Raw Cacao Powder

3 tbsp Maple Syrup (or alternative sweetener)

1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

5 Freshly Ground Cloves (to grind use a pestle & mortar)

1 tbsp Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

1 tsp Orange Zest

Pinch of Himalayan Salt to taste

METHOD

For the base: Blend all the oats and nuts together until ground into fine pieces like breadcrumbs. Add the coconut oil and maple syrup and continue to blend. Add splashes of milk little by little until the mixture is sticky and doughy, and holds together when pressed between fingers.

Prepare a shallow dish, with sides an inch or so high, line with cling film. Firmly press the mixture into the dish.

For the caramel layer: Blend all ingredients together and process until smooth and caramel like. You may find there are small chunks of dates that won’t blend but this is ok. Pour the caramel onto the base and spread evenly. Pop into the fridge to set whilst you make the top layer.

For the chocolate topping: Melt the coconut oil and cacao butter in a glass bowl by resting the bowl on top of a small pan with an inch of gently simmering water in the bottom. Make sure there is space between the bottom of the bowl and the water. You don’t want the mixture to get too hot, just to melt. Once melted, take off the head and mix in the maple syrup and orange juice. Then add in the spices, cacao powder and other dry ingredients. Have a taste of the mixture and add more spices or salt to taste. Pour the mixture onto the caramel layer and return to the freezer for 10 minutes or until set.

I recommend using your sharpest knife to carefully cut up the pieces so that the chocolate doesn’t crack. You may want to let these warm slightly before cutting. You can store your raw Vegan Chocolate Orange Slice in an airtight container in the fridge – it will keep for about 3 days. Here’s to a little indulgence and wishing you a fabulous 2017!

Let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments below, or tag me on social media @theveganedit 🙂

Featuring a sweet pumpkin filling and a nutritious nutty base, this Raw Vegan Pumpkin Slice is a quick and easy dessert that can be whipped up in a blender in minutes. With the Halloween festivities in full swing, it’s the perfect time to make use of the availability of pumpkins by making a delicious and seasonal dessert! This year I’m trying to use more seasonal produce to experiment with new recipes and flavours – this one is a winner!

The base is made from sweet and sticky fibre-rich dates, nuts, desiccated coconut, and coconut oil. It pairs perfectly with the topping is made with pumpkin puree to create a rich and velvety texture. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger are a warming combination, adding some magic flavours and complementing the sweetness of the dates and pumpkin.

This recipe is as delicious as it is healthy. Pumpkin contains vitamins A and E, as well as potassium and iron. The lovely orange colour is due to mineral beta-carotene, a plant nutrient that our bodies turn into vitamin A! The slice is also full of healthy fats from the nuts and coconut oil, plus protein, calcium, potassium and vitamin E! Whilst the pumpkin puree is cooked, the rest of the recipe requires no cooking with the ingredients in their natural nutritious and raw state.

As the ingredients are all natural as well as being Vegan, these are a great healthy dessert to make to celebrate Halloween!

INSTRUCTIONS
BASE
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender until combined. The desired texture is a chunky and sticky “dough”.
2. Line a medium sized glass dish with clingfilm, and put the mixture into the bottom and spread evenly. You should be able to spread the mix with the back of a dessert spoon and press it down to get a firm base.
3. Freeze for at least 30 mins.
4. While you’re waiting for the base to harden, make a start on the pumpkin topping
TOPPING
5. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy. If your dates aren’t soft enough to blend easily, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes beforehand. Or if you’d like some fudgy pieces then blend your mixture a little less so you have some sticky date chunks.
6. Remove the base from the freezer, and gently spread the filling mixture evenly onto the base.
7. Pop back into the freezer for 1-2hrs or until firm. You can lift the dessert out by the clingfilm so it’s easy to lift onto a serving board to cut into slices.
8. Serve with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut, a dollop of whipped coconut cream or a drizzle of maple syrup!

Simple and delicious desserts really are this easy 🙂

Enjoy!

Ruth x

(This recipe for Raw Vegan Pumpkin Slice originally appeared as a guest post for Raw Press Co here)